Friends and Alibis
by Astral Thatcher
Summary: Breaking my PlayStation connected our world to others, say whaaaat? Who knew? Well, now that my friends and I are here, might as well have fun with it, right? Oh, all hell is gonna break loose. -Co-written with I. Write. Love-
1. Chapter 1

**Author Notes from iSpazzeh14: w00t! SisterFic to I. Write. Love's "Friends and Alibis" =D So, yes, co-written story as well as hers. =3 So know, in addition to dealing with her in R.L. I now have to deal with her here. (I.W.L: DON'T HUG ME AND TELL ME YOU LOVE ME. BITCH IMMA KILL YOU IN YOUR SLEEP NOW) Well, now I'm afraid to go to sleep. O3o Oh, well, it's already 3:00 in the morning. Might as well stay up the rest of the night, right?**

"**Welcome to next Kingdom Hearts chapter story! Weee! This time it's got randomness and humor, romance and adventure! Not to mention you'd get what I'd call a peek in on my boring ass life! W00t!**

**No, I'm kiddin'. If this actually happened, [we'd] own Kingdom Hearts right now. Literally." **

**~Just to quote I.W.L**

"**Disclaimer: Although I might own the rights to use [I. Write. Love (Rachell)] Cody, Paul and I in this story, I don't own anything else, including PlayStation, Kingdom Hearts and the creepy dark portal guy... -shivers-"**

**~Still quoting I.W.L**

**Shout Out From I. Write. Love: I'm getting this over with so I can find my pencil and write Cody a letter (when he reads this, YUP! Imma stalker ^^). So, um, what am I supposed to say? She steals ideas from me but ends up co-writing the same exact story? (iSpazzeh14: IT WAS YOUR FREAKIN' IDEA!) I guess. And no, I'm not going to counter that statement with "LOVE YA!". Sorro. **

**Well, have fun reading this story. Mine's better, though. GO READ IT!**

**Baaaaaaai. (Off Screen: "NOW HELP ME FIND MY PENCIL!" "Oh goodness… OH! That's what was making the keyboard shake when you typed, Rachie.")**

**And, btw: The last names and R.L. locations have been changed to avoid stalkerishisms. O3o**

**Enjoy!~ =D**

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Chapter One:

"Rachell! Xemnas got Sora!"

"Cody, shut up and stop telling me the obvious!"

I watched as she pushed the brunette away, and reattached her hand to the controller, smashing the buttons wildly. Cody growled, and I settled back into the arms of my boyfriend, the both of us chuckling.

"Ya'll are more fun to watch than that game." Paul's voice dripped with sarcasm and apathy as he pulled out his phone to text random friends that I knew nothing about.

"Well, I have to agree," though I didn't mean it sarcastically, "you two are interesting when you argue."

Cody spun around to look at me. "Shut up! She's fighting like crap!"

"Doesn't mean you need to tell me, Cody!" she snapped. On screen, Sora suffered from a round of laser bullets. "Besides, I'd like to see you do better!"

The impatient boy reached out for the controller, only to have it jerked away from him by the current gamer. "How am I supposed to prove you wrong if you won't give me the damn thing?" I rolled my eyes.

"I'm in the middle of a boss battle! You can wait!" After losing about half of what was left of her health (again), Rachell paused the game and turned toward her pest. "If I keep losing health because of you, I swear I'll get a Keyblade and kick your ass!"

"That's not a threat!"

"Like hell it is!"

That's when I lost my tolerance. I picked up a pillow, and threw it to Cody's back. Paul wrapped his arms around me again after texting to try and calm me down. "Both of you shut up and play the game already!" I was glad they knew better than to argue. Cody tossed the pillow back, and it landed on the couch next to me.

Paul whispered into my ear, his Southern accent (that he denied he had) crystal clear, "Your friends are such dorks, baby." He had never even heard about the Kingdom Hearts series before I had come along, so he couldn't truly understand the love between gamer and game character. But I didn't hold that against him.

"I know," I whispered back, "but they're my dorks in a way."

"Then whose dork are you?"

"Yours?" I smiled at him. He pecked my lips lightly. Looking back to the TV screen, I realized how silent the two were being, and, I have to say, it worried the crap out of me. Regardless, I was silently cheering Rachell on as she only had one more combo to fulfill before she beat the game for the first time.

I gasped as Cody lunged for the remote once more, earning himself a kick to the stomach. I had a hard time keeping from laughing while he writhed in – minor – pain on the floor, but I managed. Hey, it was his own freaking fault. "What the hell?" Rachell had yelled to him.

"I tackled you and you kicked me!" Cody screamed in return, still clutching his stomach and glaring at Rachell.

"Yeah, I kicked you because you tackled me, dumbass! Maybe next time you shouldn't do that!" After my laugh attack I grew serious, and was pulling a "Leon" by pinching the bridge of my nose in annoyance. Conflicts like this had happened all the time between them, and I had learned to just live with it. That is, once I got so used to them fighting that I no longer found them hilarious to watch.

"That's it…" I heard Cody mumble. He dove for the controller again, this time managing to grab it and bring it toward him, but Rachell still had her hold and refused to let it falter. They wrestled on the tan carpet of my home. I turned away to Paul who was, once again, texting, about to offer him something to drink.

Out of absolutely nowhere, came the sound of plastic crashing to said tan carpeting. I looked in the direction it had come from, wide-eyed, hoping –_ praying _– that it wasn't what I thought it was. Of course, it was. There lay my PlayStation2 in a pitiful exhibit of sparks and smoke. Their fighting had stopped for once, and the four of us gapped at the pile of black plastic and wires. Oh, I was _so _going to kill them. A high-pitched whine escaped my throat.

"M-My PlayStation…" I whimpered. Paul was trying to pull me back down to the couch, but I refused to be moved.

Cody glanced from the destroyed system to me, then back again. Quickly he untangled himself from the cord, and passed the once-fought-over controller to Rachell. "What the hell did you do?"

"ME? I didn't do it!"

"You're the one with the controller in your hand!"

Was he really _that _much of an idiot?

Rachell then threw the remote at his face, missing. "The cord wrapped around _your _ankle!"

"Like that happened!" It was thrown back at her, but she – surprisingly, knowing her coordination – dodged it, and it struck the ground, shattering and joining the console it controlled at the great TV in the sky. I stared at it in disbelief. Oh well, I guess I don't need it anymore, right? I kept telling myself that, but I couldn't hold back the second pathetic complaint.

"Look what you did!" Rachell yelled again.

"I didn't dodge it!"

"You threw it!"

"SHUT UP!"

The three of us turned our attention to Paul. I may have been used to their bickering, but he certainly wasn't, and I could tell it easily got on his nerves. "Yellin' ain't gonna fix that thing."

"Then what is?" Cody chose to be sarcastic; smart. After a quick glare, I slumped back onto the couch, holding my head in my hands.

"I wonder if I could create a torture chamber," I mumbled to myself. "Oh yes, and with lots of chains, so many chains!" From what I heard, Rachell was moving about. What was she doing? She would take a step, then stop, take a step, then stop. Wait, don't tell me; she was collecting the remains of the controller? That sounded like something she would do.

I felt the couch sink as Paul took his place next to me, apparently not having a comment to Cody's sarcastic remark. He mumbled something along the lines of, "Anything but fighting," but I ignored it, too distraught to be sociable anymore.

"Well, I guess you won't know how it ends," Cody was telling Rachell.

"Of course, I won't," she replied, more annoyance then before creeping into her tone. I truthfully did not blame her. "All I needed was one more combo. ONE MORE COMBO. Yet, you had to be stupid and try to get the controller away from me, and now I will never know. IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT."

"That's _really _what you're worried about? You just broke my PlayStation, and you're worried about the ending?" I glared daggers at the two of them, glancing up from my hands. "Fine. You wanna know the ending? Roxas dies. The end."

Her mouth fell open in shock. "That's not the ending," Cody snorted. "The real ending is-"

"SHUT UP! Don't tell me how it ends!" Her fist connected with Cody's arm.

He rubbed the spot that would've probably been sore if she had punched him any harder, stalking off to the kitchen. "Hey, Alison, anything else to eat?"

I glared at him… Again. "Yeah, I think there's some bleach in there somewhere…" I said thoughtfully.

"That's not funny," he said, poking his head back into view. "Really, I'm hungry."

"Really, my PlayStation's broke now because of you and Rachell. Food should be the least of your worries."

Rachell stood and followed Cody into the kitchen. Paul placed a quick kiss on my cheek, and I fell back into his arms. I assumed Rachell was trying to pull out the pizza box that held our leftovers from earlier judging by the sound of cardboard struggling to escape the fridge. Once the noise had stopped I heard their conversation.

"Here. Food," Rachell said.

"But we already ate that…" Cody complained. I heard the box open. "Sweet, there's still pepperoni!" I shook my head, lowering it back to my palms. I was only subconsciously aware that Paul then rose from the couch, and Cody took his place, bouncing with half of a slice hanging out of his mouth.

I heard plastic shifting, and was too afraid to look up. Paul reached a verdict. "There ain't no way we're gonna be able to save it. They wrecked it."

I groaned, painfully, pathetically, and any other adjective beginning with a "p" that would describe this feeling. "You… you owe me so much now…" I stated, allowing my voice to drop two octaves below its normal pitch.

The pizza box was set down on the coffee table in front of me, and I heard a scurrying of footsteps retreating. She may have been out of reach, but there was nothing stopping me from throwing something at her… "Well, uh, look on the bright side…"

"We have pizza!" Cody interrupted. Actually, I don't think it was much of an interruption due to the fact that Rachell most likely couldn't have finished that sentence anyway. We all glared at him. Wow, I was doing that a lot today. "Sorry for being optimistic…"

"I'll return to optimism when I've got another PS2 and a copy of Kingdom Hearts II," I said, once again, returning my face to my hands to mope. "Until then, the positives are not on my mind."

After a few more exchanged glances – and attempts from me to fight the urge to murder someone – we had gotten the remains of the PlayStation in the trash after I held my own, imagined funeral of my favorite game and console. Not to mention all of the memory for all of the PS2 games I had ever owned. Oh, such a loss. Such wasted potential…

We now sat in the middle of the floor, all motivation to find something to do swept away with our last shred of entertainment. Suddenly, there was a loud crash from one of the back bedrooms, and we all jumped.

"Dude, did you not get enough out of throwing that controller at me?" Rachell asked. I looked over to her, and Cody's phone was in her lap. She quickly handed it back to him.

"Shut up," I told her, trying to figure out which room it had come from. I had guessed my bedroom. Dangit. "What was that?"

Rachell shrugged and the two boys got up to investigate the sound. Seconds passed before a muffled yell was heard all in the house – I'm glad my parents or sister weren't home – and Paul reappeared at the doorway, quickly hiding himself behind the big screen TV. "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING?" Cody was close on his heels, gripping his arm, some blood seeping out between his fingers.

"Cody, what the f-" Rachell started.

"That's a freakin' Dusk!" I froze. Had he just said Dusk? As in the most commonly seen Nobody in the game that my friends had just destroyed? Huh? Rachell and I looked at each other, each of us just as confused as the other.

"What?"

A flash of white danced at the corner of my eye. I turned, slowly, afraid that Cody wasn't as serious as he had been when I met him. Figures, the _one _time he was being serious was when there was a freaking Dusk in my house! What is up with that?

Paul was still behind the TV when the creature stood to its full height after slithering its way into the living room. I didn't blame him… Much. Even after watching Cody and Rachell play the game for three days in a row he still didn't know what it was. I wasn't going to be _completely _sympathetic. Cody stepped in front of Rachell and I. Why? I had no clue.

To our left, behind Paul, appeared a swirling black hole, darkness seeming to flow so easily from it. A cloaked figure entered my house from it, heels of his boots clicking on the tile. I couldn't see his face, but I got a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. "This world seems weak and pathetic." I would recognize that voice anywhere; Paul St. Peter.

"Who in the hell are you?" Cody yelled to him.

The man's head moved as he – I assumed – studied each of us in turn. "And you four are who connected it. Equally as pathetic." Hm… That didn't seem very nice for an actor to say. Oh…

"Who you callin' pathetic?" Paul asked, gaining more courage than before. That was my Paul; able to stand up against any man, but not able to do so against something that he had – hardly – ever seen before. Way to go! Yeah, Paul, you get the worst villain of them all; Cody, Rachell and I will get the easily-dealt-with Dusk. We'll be with you in spirit!

"You fool," the hood shook from side to side. "You think you're brave, but you could never handle yourself up against me."

Paul's anger was increasing, and I began to take a step forward, in case he sprang to attack the stranger. I was not going to let him get hurt in a fight with that man. "I could take ya," he growled.

"No, you couldn't, Paul," I said taking another step, a mischievous smile playing on my lips. Paul gave me an incredulous look, and the hooded figure tilted his head, in confusion, I think, but I couldn't see his face.

From behind me, Rachell chimed in with the same smirk. "But we know someone who can."

"What-" Cody started.

Before the man in front of us could stop us, Rachell had Cody's hand in hers and we dashed for the portal. I grabbed Paul's hand as I ran past him, unsure if he would feel comfortable enough to follow, positive that he had no idea where that hole in the wall might lead. But Rachell and I were certain it was some place wonderful, even if it was wonderful only by our standards.

As soon as we were completely immersed in darkness, a shadow fell over my eyes, and I blacked out.

* * *

Complaints from Rachell and Cody were the first things I heard upon regaining consciousness. Figures.

"Wha' the?" I sat up rubbing my eyes, to see Cody rubbing his head. "Where in the hell are we?" I was still bust trying to process what my eyes were seeing, but that wasn't an easy task for me by this point.

Rachell was the first one able to answer Cody's question. "I know this is going to sound crazy and unbelievable, but I think we're in the World That Never Was..."

"Huh?" Paul was, obviously, more confused about this situation than anyone else. Ah, the perks of being a Kingdom Hearts fan. "The World That Never what?"

No one answered his question; we were all awed, lost in our fantasies that just may become a reality. I studied my surroundings more closely, forcing my brain to comprehend them. "Well, I'll be damned…" I muttered, not catching the fact that I had cursed when I was trying to stop that habit. "We are… You can tell by the walls." I motioned toward the Nobody symbol carved into each one.

Rachell and Cody stood, possibly trying to find ways to disprove our theories. "But… How?"

"The dark portal…" Cody mused. "Either we're in some obsessive fan's house, or this is the real deal… We're in Kingdom Hearts."

I had to remind myself to breathe.


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, so for full author's notes go to I. Write. Love's version of this story. ****So reviews!**

**clover22****~  
Reply from Spazzeh: Thankies for your review! ^w^ I'm glad you enjoyed it. The sad part is this is really how everyone acts in real life. xD But I'm warning you now: I think Rachell is about to yell at you for reviewing on my side of the story before hers, so I would go read hers now if I were you. O3o Trust me on this, she's quite scary. ****It would probably benefit you anyway. There are some differences, so if you want to understand the story better, it may help. But I don't blame you if you skip over her reply. xD**

**Reply from I. Write. Love: ****OKAY THEN. Not ALL KH fics are trash about Sora and Riku stripping because those fics are God in the first place... (Spazzeh in background: …They are?) Yeah, that was a weird statement but whatevz. Those can be amazing stories... -hearts with daydreaming- Oh, right the review. Thanks for teh compliment, even though iSpazzeh is right! 1) I am going to say WHY'D YOU REVIEW HER'S FIRST? and 2) I am quiet scary. Especially when I'm mad. I smile evilly. EVIL SMILE, EVIL SMILE! So, yeah. Benefits will rain for you if you go read mine. And yes, Cody and I do fight like that... All. The. Time... (don't tell anyone, but I have a slight crush on him -giggles like a school girl-). Thank you for reviewing! NOW GO REVIEW MINE!**

**Back to Spazzeh: Yeah… Sorry 'bout her… xD Movin' on! **

**UGH! RACHIE! Your reply has so many grammar and spelling mistakes! . So. Much. Red. And. Green… **

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Chapter two:

As many times as I had already heard or thought it, it still seemed so unreal. Caught in the middle of my favorite game ever? Impossible… Not probable…? I mean, what are the odds? Some of us seemed to be coping with it better than others, though.

Rachell took a breath and opened her mouth, ready to speak her wonderful words of "wisdom", but Paul's accent broke the silence first. "You're meanin' to tell me that we're in that damn video game?" The confusion in his tone was obvious.

Cody nodded. "Yup. We're in Kingdom Hearts, as crazy as that sounds." I heard my boyfriend curse under his breath.

"Well, technically…" I corrected, "We're not in Kingdom Hearts 'cause that's a completely different world, y'know?" I mentally slapped myself for performing a "Rai". See what watching someone play that video game for too long does to me? I end up copying the character's habits, and sometimes, eventually, their entire personality if only temporarily.

"She's got a point," Rachell helped.

For the first time that day, Cody glared at us. "Shut up, smartass. So we're in the _video game _and we're stuck here. What are we going to do?"

I smiled devilishly as I turned to Rachell, knowing we had both thought of the same thing. We turned back to the boys and yelled, "KEYBLADES!"

Their eyes were wide. "Are you ser-"

"QUICK!" I screamed. "TO THE ARMORY! TALLY-HO!" I pumped a fist above my head at the last words, and began a march toward one of the two doorways, Rachell trailing eagerly behind.

"Uh, guys?" Paul said, causing my friend and I to return our focus to them, noticing they hadn't moved an inch. "Do ya'll know where you're goin'?"

My gaze fell to the floor in defeat. Yeah, I had no clue. "Well, we're in the Hall of Empty Melodies…" Rachell tried to defend whatever dignity remained for me. She pointed in the direction that she and I had began to jaunt. "So, that should, in theory, lead us to the very top of the castle… If I'm right."

'In theory?'; 'If I'm right?'Suddenly, letting Rachell lead or being followed by her without her questioning did _not _seem like a good plan.

"I don't think we should trust her gut instinct," Cody voiced my unshared opinion, pointing toward the other entrance. "She had a _feeling _that there was going to be a zombie invasion one day when she woke up and nearly prepared for it at school." A smile smirk danced across his lips. How had I not heard about that, I wonder? "I think we should go this way."

"You can't hold that against me!" she protested. "It started off just like in my story! Also, no one's going to follow you. You could be just as wrong as me!"

"If we're wrong, then which way do we go?"

"Up, obviously!" I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

"How the hell are we going to do that?"

"Well, uh…" She was knowingly beaten.

"If anything, we need to go down," Cody stated, smugly.

I felt the need to voice my _new _opinion. "He's got a point, Rachie. Armories are usually in the basements of places… If my memory serves right, that's where we need to head." Of course, don't go by me. I'm only forming my theory from what I've learned from movies. I didn't bother mentioning that, though. Well, _I _didn't think it mattered that much…

"Fine, whatever. Lead the way, Ri-Ri," Rachell mumbled, sulking.

He was annoyed by the nickname, but decided not to comment, starting for the opposite door. Paul still hadn't moved, and Cody noticed. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"What about that guy in the hood?" My stomach churned.

"What about it?" Rachell asked.

"What if we run into him? That dark whatever led us here, right? Maybe this is where he came from."

I wished he had paid a little more attention to the game. That way he wouldn't have to bring up things that the rest of us were trying to avoid thinking about. And I had been doing pretty well, too! My gaze fell to the grey floor, while Cody and Rachell glanced at each other nervously. I wanted to get everyone's mood up before someone else could tear it down more.

"So, if we go down to the armory, we'll have weapons. Powerful, magical weapons." I did "spirit fingers" to emphasize "magical", but I hadn't realized how insane my face had grown in appearance until the others each took a step away from me. "So, let's find this place and raid it. It'd be fun, right? Adventure?" I taunted Rachell, planting the idea in her head.

"Adventure?" Success. I nodded to her. "I'm in."

Cody folded his arms over his chest. "Okay, so we're going down to the armory for powerful, magical, fun, adventurous weapons, or have I heard wrong?" The sarcasm was unnecessary. "Woo. We'll die in no time…" I saw Paul wince at the comment but encouraged them to soldier on before anyone could back out.

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We stood at the door, gaping at the wonderful, magnificentness that was the weapons of the Organization members, current or previously "deceased." My friends were awed by the shiny, pointy things, while I was just shocked that I had been right about the armory being in the basement. That is, until, the circular objects caught my attention. Forgetting about my friends, I dashed for the chakrams. I gingerly took each one in my hands. Behind me I could hear Cody mumbling something about "this going to be fun", but I didn't pay any attention. I was getting too much amusement about mimicking Axel. His signature line "got it memorized?" kept nagging at me to be spoken.

"This is a bad idea waiting to happen, Cody Hatton," I heard Rachell tell him. I turned to see him practically stroking a claymore, one that I knew belonged to Saix. I rolled my eyes, continuing to listen to the conversation, but my eyes were studying the unique shape of the weapons I held. "Imagine how much shit we'd be in if you accidently ruined the castle. I'm thinking that seven Organization members could take four teenagers down easily."

I heard Paul scoff from the other side of the room. Looking over I realized what he was holding: one of my other favorite characters of all time, Luxord's cards, the Fair Game. I stared at them for a brief moment, but turned again when Rachell picked up Arpeggio, Demyx's sitar. I smiled, at her comment, "It's… It's like a dream come true…" only to have it ended so soon by Cody, who plucked the strings.

"Hmm, it's tuned," he smiled.

"Give it back!"

"If anyone should hold this, it should be me. I know how to play after all."

Actually, you're still learning, Cody, I wanted to say, but I held back. I was no better at playing than he was anyway.

Rachell stalked away, disappointed, and so, since the dispute seemed to be over, I returned my attention to Axel's weapons. I assumed that she had been looking at the available weapons, but when she threatened Cody – again – I had to turn to find out what was going on. "Give me back the sitar NOW." All our eyes widened as she aimed one of Xigbar's _loaded _arrow guns at him.

"Whoa. Someone's trigger happy." He threw his hands in the air, the sitar strapped to his back. "I'm just kidding, by the way," he assured.

"Then give me the sitar," she demanded. I don't know why, but I felt the need to intervene. I quickly set down the metal circles, and raced over to Rachell, slapping her arm once I was in reach. That was so stupid. She wouldn't have fired – I hoped – if I hadn't done that. It startled her, and her grip around the trigger tightened. Thankfully, Cody ducked, but not before the projectile could graze his cheek.

"Dammit that hurt…" We looked to the hole that was now in the wall. "That probably gave us away. We need to get out of here now."

Putting or dangerous toys back where they belonged, we trotted toward the door, but Rachell had suddenly stopped. "What?" Cody questioned her, following her gaze. "Holy shi-" Now my curiosity had been roused. I looked in the same direction. My jaw dropped.

Four Keyblades sat there, teasing us, _begging_ to be held. And why not? We all strode over to them uncertainly. Rachell immediately picked two of them up, attaching the black crown and Wayfinder key chains to each one. I watched as they transformed into Roxas' well known Oathkeeper and Oblivion. As if someone were going to try and take his, Cody dove for one of the Kingdom Keys and the Heartless Keychain. He wolf whistled when it changed into Way to the Dawn.

"Oh, man, I'm gonna love this! YES. Now I feel like Riku more than I did before!" That was our Riku, for sure. Often times he didn't act like him, but most of us never really _did _act like the Kingdom Hearts characters we were named after. Rachell, for example, dubbed herself Roxas, and was the person who started the whole "name-my-friends-after-Kingdom-Hearts-characters." I was Xion, after being Axel for a while (she had forgotten she named me Axel and so named someone else him instead, and for a while we had two of them, until I finally caved and became Xion.) And I had named Paul after Luxord, half because he was the only one out of everyone who had any type of accent. He had no clue who we were ever talking about, but I had a feeling he would know pretty quick, if we didn't get out of that castle soon.

Only one Keyblade remained, and as much as I wanted it, I didn't want to leave Paul without any protection, since Rachell took two of the four Kingdom Keys that were there. I glanced over to Paul with the question in my face and motioned toward the key. He merely shook his head in response. I made a face, but he denied the offer again, so I decided I'd take it, and if he ever wanted it, I'd give it to him.

I looked at the remaining key chains. "I think I'll hold true to being Xion, and keep it like this," I said, not too fond of my options. Rachell put her Keyblade away, and we did the same. It was bad enough to be taking them. Did we really want to show them off in here? No. Big, fat no.

Finally on our way, Cody brought up something that I hadn't realized was nagging at the back of my brain also. "So, don't you guys find it weird we found the exact number of Keyblades we needed as well as the three key chains we needed?" It had seemed strange. The fact that there were three Keyblades and Roxas' key chains I could understand. But then why was there a fourth key and Riku's key chain?

"I'm not going to think about what sinister plans we've got forming in the Organization at the moment. I just want to get back home," Rachell complained. "Not to mention, why wouldn't Xion have a second Keyblade around?"

"Why would she need another one?" I asked, trying to think of an answer for myself. Well, Roxas had two, why not her, and she just never used it? It made _some _sense.

"In case hers broke…?" I liked my explanation better.

Cody sighed, and I was trying to imagine Rachell imagining a Keyblade breaking. Was it even possible for one to break? I'd hate to be the one that happened to. You're fighting and then all of a sudden _CSSHHHEEE_; it's bent or broken. I shook my head.

We reached the top of the stairs, and I noted that we were in Nothing's Call. Only a few more feet and we would be out of that place – hopefully – forever. Something about the white walls had always given me the creeps, even in the game. Not to mention the headache that came with the brightness. "C'mon," he said, "we should head down to the city."

"What?" I grew concerned. "There's all sorts of Heartless down there; we'll get killed!"

Oathkeeper appeared in Rachell's hand. "With these, I don't think so." Again, I kept my thoughts to myself; there was no "X" button that she could press as wildly as she did on the controller to fight, and with her coordination – yes, I'm bringing that up again – I couldn't imagine what kind of injuries she could cause, not only to herself, but to Cody, Paul, and I. Knowing her, she would just start swinging and hope she hit something.

My eye roll was ignored and we left the castle, grabbing a potion out of a chest that I held onto before doing so. After many turns down alleyways and through the city, we arrived at Memory's Skyscraper, and immediately Cody suggested that he and Rachell should reenact the fight between Riku and Roxas.

"Cody, that's stupid," Rachell countered. "They were doing inhuman flips and stuff off that skyscraper, and I am not going up there to flip and fall. You know I'm scared of heights!"

Bored, and not wanting to get involved like I had so many times before, I turned to sit on the steps of the tower, taking Paul's hand to bring him with me. Before I got within five feet, Cody began yelling again.

"Watch out!" I quickly about-faced to see a Neoshadow pop out of the ground like a daisy, and stare Rachell down. She didn't move; only stared at the twitching creature. I drew out my Keyblade, while Cody brought Rachell back into focus. "Hey, this is a bad time to space out; we're surrounded!" I hadn't realized it until he had said something. I had kept my attention on the first Heartless that had shown up.

The others who carried them, pulled out their Keyblades, and we all had our backs to each other, Paul standing in the middle without the means to protect himself. I glanced back to Rachell and Cody, who had taken up fighting stances. An image passed in front of my eyes, of me – at least, I think it was me – throwing… Something to someone…

I had no time to linger on it. I quickly tried to shake the thought away, unable to fully do so, until something tore through the skin of my forearm. I swung the blade at the monstrosity, sending it to oblivion.

Keeping close to Paul – who was trying to fight with his fists – I did my best to keep the shadows on steroids away from the both of us. Luckily, they were more focused on the Keyblade wielders than him, only coming close to him to get to me.

At last, Rachell having defeated the final Neoshadow, we could rest. I quickly looked down to my arm. Gallons of red liquid were oozing from it. I became queasy, and tugged on my jacket sleeve to pull it over it. My friends' injuries gained priority.

"Munny!" Rachell cried happily. I pulled out the bottle of potion, dabbing some of the cloth from the end of my sleeve in the green solution, and applying it to her scratched cheek. She inhaled sharply.

I quickly moved to Cody, whose arm was scratched. At least he was better off than I was. "Oh, shit, that hurts," he complained. I ignored him and strode to my boyfriend. "I'm not getting hurt here again, even if that stuff manages to heal the wounds fast."

Paul had minor cuts that lined his arms, but, again nothing serious. I knew he had had far worse before in _our _world.

By the time that I had finished with them, the potion bottle had been left completely empty. I sighed, knowing I should've expected it, and scolding myself for not being stingier with it. Even a mega potion only healed a party of three. Why should I have expected a regular potion to do more than that? I threw the empty glass aside, and turned to everyone else.

Rachell was laughing at Cody for the pain he was in – I was _never _the only one who ever did that – and earned herself an elbow to her ribcage. She led the way through the rest of the neon-lit city, only stopping to open chests – unfortunately ones that didn't hold any more potions – and to fight more shadows, with fewer scratches than the time before. We reached a back alley that was home to a swirling green portal – I was getting tired of portals in general – that we recognized.

"If memory serves right…" Cody thought a moment. "This is going to take us to the data Twilight Town." As much as I hated to admit it, we would have to get used to going by our assumptions in this place.

"I thought DiZ didn't make the portal until after Roxas was back with Sora, or whatever."

I was about to point out that we had no idea at what point in the game we had arrived (if this would follow the storyline of the game at all) but I didn't want to spoil that for them. "Sora, Donald, and Goofy were the ones who made it. To get to the World That Never Was and save Kairi… Why, I'll never freakin' know." Again, I wanted to point out the unknown time period, but I let it pass.

"Well, it's not going to hurt to try. Not to mention, if we _do _end up in Twilight Town, we can compete in the Struggle competition!" I should've guessed… Before anyone could comment he stepped through.

"C-Cody!" Rachell yelled after him. I took Paul's hand, feeling some resistance, but he followed anyway. We found ourselves in the Betwixt Between, and Rachell commented, "Eek. Creepier than the game…"

The brunette shrugged, said a quick "c'mon" and dashed toward the other end, ignoring the fact that we were all trying to keep our balance due to the spinning walls and ceiling confusing the heck out of us.

I noticed Rachell touch her hands to her head, but before I asked if she were okay, Cody volunteered her to go through first.

"Now why would I do that? There could be something on the other side that could kill me!"

"Yeah, but what happened to you 'being the hero'?"

Once again, she had lost. I wondered if this was being counted in that tally of theirs… "Fine, I'll go first…" She hesitated, but went through it, the rest of us following. Once our feet were on firm, not spinning ground, I sighed. "So, we weren't too late in the storyline," Rachell said, smiling at what I knew was DiZ's computer. I wanted so much to slap her. Had she just now figured that out? But that still didn't explain the portal from here to the world we were previously in…

"Yeah, but we better get out of here before DiZ shows up," I suggested, leading the way, up the stairs and into a library. I wanted to explore every inch of the mansion. Taking deep breaths to forget about this wonderful opportunity, I pushed the heavy doors open that led out to the courtyard. The first thing I noticed were the ruined pillars and the vines climbing up whatever they touched. I wondered what this place had looked like before it had been partially destroyed and converted into a hiding place for a secret lab.

The next thing that caught my attention was the old iron gate and a group of seven standing just on the other side of it. We crept closer for a better chance to eavesdrop on the conversation.

"You four are real lamers, aren't you?" a tall blonde spoke, a black beanie pressing his hair to his forehead, as he held a book high above his head, keeping it out of the reach of a spiky-haired blonde. I knew that spiky hair from anywhere. "Can't even reach the damn book."

"Seifer," a brunette with piercing green eyes spoke up. "Please give us the book back. We need to read it for the project…"

"Whatever," he said tossing the book to yet another blonde boy. "You losers go ahead and read that stupid book and lose the Struggle competition in four days. See if I care… Oh, I will though, 'cause I'll win." He turned with a smirk that just pissed me off, and motioned for two others to follow him. "Rai, Fuu; we're leaving. See ya later, lamers."

"Yeah, and don't try praying for victory, y'know? Seifer's gonna win, y'know?" I always hated how Rai ended _every single freakin' sentence_ with 'y'know? y'know?' It had always annoyed me, y'know?

"Useless," said the short, silver-haired girl. "Intruders," Fuu said, pointing to us. I stopped breathing. Cody froze, and Rachell's eyes jumped from side to side.

"Howdy!" Paul greeted, waving. Face-palm.

"Get 'em," Seifer said, eyes filled with rage. "We don't like intruders here."

"Rumble." Again, one of the most annoying things; one worded sentences.

"Now hold on!" said the third blonde, jumping between our group and the jerks. "What the hell? You don't even know them!"

"They need to know the rules, y'know?"

"It's wrong to beat up random kids…" the girl added.

Kids?

"Yeah, what Olette said!"

"Then, would you rather me beat you up, chickenwuss?" When the blonde didn't answer, Seifer smirked. "Figured not."

"Can't we solve this without violence, or something, Hayner?" a stout brunette asked. I agreed with him!

"Go, now," Hayner spoke to the trio. "We'll take care of them."

Before stalking away, Seifer sent us all the finger, his pets following without pause. Once they were out of hearing range, Hayner turned back to our worn out group. "Who are you guys?" he questioned, studying us.

"I think you should introduce yourselves first…" Cody crossed his arms, displaying his stubbornness.

Reluctantly, he did so. "I'm Hayner. This is Olette, Pence, and Roxas." He motioned to each of them in turn. By now, I had expected Rachell to be squealing at having met her "other half" whom she was nicknamed after – I know I would've been, and I almost did just _seeing _Roxas in person – but, amazingly, she held back. "Now, who are you guys?"

Rachell told them our names, and Olette commented on how strange they seemed, which is less than I could say for theirs. "Where are you from?" she asked.

"Uh…" I looked to Rachell for help. "No one's heard of it." They gave us a look, but left it at that.

"Are you here for the Struggle in a few days?" Pence wanted to know. "Yeah!" Cody and Rachell cheered, simultaneously. "Damn straight!" I rolled my eyes.

"Well, not to brag, but," Hayner said, meaning to brag, "I'm pretty good. I'd hate to fight one of you."

"I'd hate for you to end up going to the hospital," Cody challenged. "When are sign-ups?"

"Now until the end of the day," Pence informed us. "You're lucky you showed up when you did. Tomorrow the prelims start, and then it would have been too late."

"Show us where the sign-ups are?" Rachell asked, seemingly uncomfortable.

He gave us a friendly smile. "Follow me."


	3. Chapter 3

**At last! I'm free of her! Whahaha! Not really. I still have to message her over FaceBook and consult her on her ideas for Chapter 3, but this time, I'm in charge of the main plot of the chapter rather than letting her type it and I go copy hers, changing it to my point of view, so I CAN NO LONGER BE YELLED AT FOR "PLAGIARY" WHEN IT WAS HER FREAKIN' IDEA! Sorry. Ranting is fun. Have you ever tried it? Anyways…**

**Sad face… No reviews for chapter two to reply to yet… GET REVIEWING PEOPLE! Please? –begs- Seriously… I'm kinda losing motivation to keep this up… Reviews will help! =D Even if I've heard from you before… And maaaaaybe - if I can talk Rachie into it - we can add in any suggestions you guys may have somewhere if it fits. So suggest away, though I can't promise if we'll approve or not. (I'm probably gonna get killed just by doing this…)**

**Already my words of wisdom come to an end… And, no, no coffee this time… =/ I ran out of French Vanilla creamer… It's icky without it. ON TO THE STORY! Enjoy! ~**

**And this chapter MAY be shorter than the last two or any after that – and, no, it's not just because I'M writing it instead of I.W.L. It's 'cause she's taking away my chance to write the next big, epic part and writing it herself in chapter 4, so that only leaves so much for me to write in this one… Sad face… **

**

* * *

**

Chapter three:

We stood in front of the sign-up sheet, our new acquaintances hovering over our shoulders as we each wrote our name. I was the last to sign, and as I reached for the pen, I noticed a spot of red on my jacket sleeve. Rushing to keep the cloth from touching the still-bleeding wound, I messily scratched my name onto the paper, and made a mental note to keep an eye on my arm. I didn't want the others to see it and worry. It had already been about twenty minutes since I had earned the deep gash, but still it was bleeding like new. I still couldn't explain why I had spaced out. Lingering on it after the fact, I had at least realized that the object I had thrown was black. Of course, lit by neon lights, everything could look black because of all the silhouettes caused by them. I only remembered that after throwing the object, I had no more control of my body, not even that same arm. Once again, I pushed the mystery to the back of my mind.

Turning back to them, I asked, "Okay. So now what?" I rolled back and forth on my heels.

"How 'bout some practice?" Rachell suggested.

I nodded. "That certainly can't hurt."

"Practice?" Cody exclaimed. "You think we need practice? We just came through that city kicking ass! And not to mention those asses were Heart-Mmm. Mmm… Mmmmm mm mmmm!" Rachell and I had both gotten our hands to his mouth just in time. Everyone – including Paul – gave us a look that told us that we were all insane. But we had already known this, so it didn't really matter. We only gave innocent, nervous smiles in return. Even Cody's lips turned up beneath our palms, realizing his almost mistake.

"Ooookay, then," Pence said, hesitantly.

"C'mon," yelled Hayner, still focused on the idea of practicing. "Let's find some Struggle bats. I wanna see what I'm gonna be up against!"

* * *

I stood, facing Cody who was on the opposite end, already in his fighting stance, each of the Struggle bats outstretched toward the other, and waiting.

Hayner was standing on the promoter's box counting down. "Three…" I quickly glanced to the arm that held the bat, hoping that the blood wouldn't seep through anymore. "Two…" My gaze returned to Cody, staring him down. "One…"

"I won't hold back!" Cody yelled to me.

"What makes you think you'll need to?" I retorted, though I was more uncertain than I should've been. Cody was stronger physically, but I was sure I could outsmart him.

"Struggle!" came the final word. We raced toward each other, meeting in the middle, our Struggle bats connecting with a hollow _THUNK. _Pushing against one another, trying to get the other to cave, something felt wrong.

"And here I thought you said you wouldn't hold back," I told him, smirking.

"I thought you'd be glad I was." Of course I was, to some degree, but I wasn't gonna tell him that. Besides, I wasn't as fragile as everyone seemed to think. I didn't want him to hold back because I wanted to prove to him and everyone else that I could be strong if the occasion called for it, even when I was weakened by loss of blood, but I definitely wasn't going to mention that.

"Don't," I told him. As if waiting for me to say that, he outstretched his arms, pushing me back and ultimately to the ground. He was about to take an overhead swing, but I rolled to the side, and jumped up, hitting the back of his legs along the way, sending him to his knees, red orbs being shot from the contact. I quickly collected them, jumping back when Cody took another swing with the bat. The end grazed the cloth of my skinny jeans, only earning him a single blue orb.

In a fluid motion, my opponent stood and hit my upper arm, just above where my injury began. I winced, but showed no more signs that I was hurt. It throbbed, but I ignored it, too focused on the fight to check the sleeve. Cody was about to take a side swing at my face – a move I thought was unfair – but I ducked and lunged behind him, quickly switching hands that my poor weapon was in, and striking straight across his back. A new flurry of red orbs bounced to the ground. I straightened up, and suddenly grew more light-headed than before. I swayed trying to keep my balance, turning just in time to block his next move. I struggled – nice word choice, huh? – to keep him at bay, each hand on one end of the bat. He pushed again, but I remained standing, gaining more feet in between us than before.

Cheers were heard all around. I could hear Paul and Rachell yelling for me to make my next move, and to beat him into the dust, but everyone else just seemed to be cheering for the violence. Except Olette. I think she was only cheering for me because not many girls who entered the competition made it very far, but I was showing promise.

As I grew more light-headed, all of the voices ran together, and everything around me blurred. My breathing became more labored, and I was still swaying back and forth, as I turned on my heel, trying to comprehend my surroundings. My heart beat irregularly, and I could feel each of my limbs going numb. Gazing to my arm, I saw the ever growing stain that had stretched to the size of my hand during the fight. It was then that I realized Cody had stopped the brawl, and was now trying to ask me if I were all right.

All I remembered after that was falling to the ground, and blacking out.

* * *

"_Ugh! How could ya bea' me, again?" he exclaimed. I smiled innocently while I picked up the cards again and dealt thirteen of them to each of us. He released an exasperated sigh as if to say 'are we really 'bou' ta do this again?' in the British accent of his. Even in his sigh I could hear the accent that I loved so much._

"_What?" I asked, smirking blamelessly. "I'm only giving you – yet another," I mumbled almost incoherently, "-chance to redeem your honor as 'Master of the Cards'." I giggled._

"_Tha's wha' ya said las' time!"_

_I gave him another smile, and said, "You start," not giving him a choice in the matter._

_Another sigh followed as he threw the three of spades down on the mattress. Looking at my hand, I searched for a double that I could use that would add up to fourteen, my favorite number. I found two of the sevens that I held, and placed them on top of the first card. Twirling my cropped, black hair with my thumb and forefinger, I watched his reaction, as he, in a frustrated manor, fumbled for a double or triple of his own. His head lowered along with his hand, and we both already knew he was defeated._

_Well… He couldn't do anything anyway; I placed down all of my cards, having one of each card in the order that I needed. He did a double-take, his eyes roaming from the beginning five, all the way to the two._

"_GAH!" he screamed in defeat, throwing all of his low-numbered cards into the pile. I had a laugh attack as his face fell into his palms._

_My gaze grew soft as I studied him._

_I couldn't resist._

_I got to my hands and knees, and put a hand to his cheek, causing him to look up. My face burned pink as I inched toward him, our lips agonizingly close…_

* * *

With eyes still half-closed, I sat up on the… Mattress? I couldn't force my eyes further open, but I could make out green sheets over my legs, and to my right, a blue sphere with fish slowly circling it, and just past that a desk, with a star flashing with neon lights just past that. Directly across the small room was a wooden door with a mosaic of a night sky with a crescent moon and some stars. And on the left wall rested a built-in bookshelf overflowing with boxes. Where was I?

It took me a moment to notice the throbbing behind my eyes, and I squinted, trying to suppress it. I rubbed my eyes, trying to get them open, and succeeding. I took another look around the room – doing my best to ignore what felt like a hangover – and realized where I was. Roxas' room.

Just then, the door creaked open an inch, and I heard a gasp. Uh-oh, here it comes. "ALISON!" Rachell yelled, almost throwing the door off its hinges and letting it slam against the wall. I winced at both of the loud noises as she rushed to tackle hug me. "It's about damn time!"

"Oh…" I groaned due to the pain in my head. Her yelling was not making it feel any better.

"Guys, she's awake!" she yelled into the hallway, ignoring my mumble. Paul and Cody appeared at the doorway, having just run down the corridor. How did I know they ran? Each of their heavy footsteps hit another place in my sensitive ears that made them pound.

"Baby!" Paul yelled running to the side of the bed, Rachell respectively moving to one side. He wrapped me in his arms, and pressed his lips to my forehead. "Are you all right?"

"Ye-" I had to clear my throat of the rasps. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just wish people would stop yelling." I glared over at Rachell, who mouthed the word 'sorry.' "Wha-"

"What the hell?" Cody yelled, forgetting about the migraine that it would have caused me. Rachell and Paul sent him a dangerous look. He shrunk then began again. "What the hell?" he said in almost a whisper. "Why didn't you tell us you were hurt?"

I quickly glanced down to the nearly forgotten wound. It had been wrapped in white gauze. I cursed silently, then sighed. "I didn't want anyone to worry. I'm sorry."

"Well, you definitely failed at that," Rachell told me.

"Yeah… Sorry… Can someone explain, though, why I'm in Roxas' room?"

"Oh, yeah," Rachell began. "We took you to the clinic and they wrapped your arm. They refused to put potion on it because that's an 'inefficient way to heal a wound.' But they told us that they didn't have room to keep you there, so Roxas offered to let you stay at his house and let you rest in his bed. He said it would be no trouble and he could stay over at Hayner's while we all stayed here. I'm not sure why he was so insistent on it, though. Offering his bed to a stranger…"

It did seem odd, but I was grateful nonetheless.

"But they said you had obviously passed out from loss of blood."

"How long has it been?"

"Since what?" Rachell asked.

"Since I passed out," I said in a tone, making it seem like it should've been obvious.

"Oh, um… About that, uh… You kinda missed the preliminaries. They were yesterday…" My hand went to my temples to rub them. "We tried to explain to them why you couldn't fight until the actual battle, but they said 'due to your absence in the preliminaries you cannot compete'. Sorro."

Ignoring my disappointment, I continued the conversation. "How many are in the competition?"

"Only three didn't move on: you, Rai, and Fuu. Hayner, Roxas, Seifer, Cody, Paul and I are all in."

"Don't forget Vivi," Cody added.

"Oh, yeah. It's weird how he made it, but Seifer's other lackeys didn't…"

I immediately thought back to what happened in the game, but my thoughts were so fuzzy at that point, I quickly gave up.

"Well, maybe I can go convince the promoter to give me a shot," I said, throwing the covers away from me. I faltered while getting to my feet, but Paul caught me before I could fall back down.

"Maybe you should get somethin' to eat first," Paul suggested. I nodded in agreement, and we headed toward the town.

* * *

Rachell filled me in on what I had missed the previous day; apparently Cody and Hayner had already formed some kind of rivalry. She told me the story about the argument (I didn't remember the reason for their fight, but I know it was ridiculous.)

With all munny spent, and pretzels in hand, we headed toward the sandlot where the Struggle promoter stood, looking over the tournament brackets for the first round. Perfect timing. He turned upon hearing our footsteps.

"Well, hello there! Are you three ready for tomorrow?" he asked, addressing everyone but me.

"That's actually what we're here about," I informed him. The stout man looked at me, intrigued.

"I don't recall seeing your face."

"Mr. Promoter, sir?" Rachell spoke. "This is Alison, the one who didn't show up yesterday?"

"Ah, yes! How can I help you?"

"I was actually wondering if there was any way that I could be added into the competition. I know I missed the preliminaries, but there must be _someway _that I could show you that I belong in at least the first round."

"Well, I'm sorry, but…" My heart sunk, and it must have showed. "I'll tell you what: if you do me the favor of putting up posters in the Tram Common I'll add you in. There're an odd number of contestants anyway. Having an even number would make things much easier for me. Normally people would get paid for posting the signs, but seen has how you need this more-"

"I'll do it!" I exclaimed, my smile threatening to tear my face in half. "Just tell me where the posters are, and I'll get started a-sap!"

He chuckled, "Well, all righty, then!" He turned and lifted the metal door, opening the store room for all things related to the Struggle battles. When he returned, I wasted no time in taking the signs and dashing my way toward my destination. I noticed a black skateboard, and hopped on it, leaving my friends in the dust, calling after me.

I had stopped to catch my breath next to the candy shop, and the others finally caught up to me. Rachell was the last to arrive with some news. "The promoter said that he was going to tell you that there are places marked where you can hang the signs." I glanced around. Sure enough, there were squares with diamonds inside of them just the right size for the posters. I set to work, making sure that I filled every available spot.

At last, I finished. Knowing the layout of the town – thanks to the game – had been extremely helpful. As if he had known when I was done, the Struggle promoter came striding up to us. "Thanks for your help! I'll be sure to add you into the tournament. And here," he reached out for my hand, dropping munny into it, "just a little extra for the extra work that you did." I stared down at my palm.

"I can't accept this." I tried to hand it back to him, but he refused. Cody elbowed me in the ribs.

"Please, it's my pleasure." I didn't try to argue any more. I slipped the coins into my pocket as he turned and left. I turned to face Rachell and squealed with joy that I had gotten into the competition. My head was still hurting, but it was bearable now.

My smile remained until Roxas and the others trudged in our direction, looking completely bummed out.

"Hey, guys," Rachell greeted. "Is something wrong?"

"Yeah," Roxas said. I was actually kind of surprised. It was the first time I had heard him speak. "One of our friend's shops has been robbed. It's completely ruined."

"What shop?" I asked, growing concerned.

"The armor shop."

"But that's impossible. We were just over there, not too long ago…"

He shrugged.

"What'd they take?" Cody wondered.

"Just some -." He gasped.

"Some what?" Paul asked, confused.

Hayner tried. "Some -."

"C'mon, guys," Pence said. "Stop fooling around and just tell them they stole the -."

"What the fuck?" Rachell said.

"Wait…" I said, memories of the beginning of the game coming back to me at last. "They didn't steal -, did they?" I sighed, already having figured out the answer. The test returned positive. "So, they didn't just steal the -, but the word, too… Is this sounding familiar to anyone else?" I turned to my friends, two of which realized what I was talking about.

"Oh, yeah! Just like in the g-" My hand shot up to Rachell's mouth. I didn't want the people of Twilight Town thinking that we were psychics or something, when we predicted what would happen to all of them eventually.

"Hey! Lamers!" I think we all winced in annoyance to the new voice. "Where is it?"

"Where is what, Seifer?" I decided to play innocent.

"You know very well, Thief! I know you and your friends took the -! Hand it over!"

"Yeah, you're the only ones who would take it, y'know?"

"We didn't take anything!" Cody yelled.

"Bull! It was undeniable proof that we totally owned your precious lamer, Roxas."

"Screw off!" I yelled back. Even a new friend was one I deemed worthy of defending.

"Nice comeback, emo."

I growled.

"So what did you do? Burn it? Ha. Not that we need some - to prove that you're losers."

"Replay," Fuu commented.

Seifer laughed. It was really unnecessary. "Now you're talkin'!" They trio took their fighting stances. "I guess if you get down on your hands and knees MAYBE I'll let it slide.

"No way!" Paul called.

"It's not gonna do you any good, Seifer," Rachell told him. "You're waaaay too outnumbered."

"You think I give a damn?" He glanced around from face to face, growing less confident with each one. "Uhn… Whatever. We're outta here." He stalked away, Rai and Fuu following loyally.

"We have to get all those - back to clear our names," Rachell stated once they had left.

"So, all we have to do…" Cody thought aloud, "Is take a -, right? Then the D-… Thief will take that one, too?"

"Right," I smiled at him.

"Good idea," Olette said, pulling a camera out of seemingly nowhere. How is it that they always did that? She was about to snap the picture of our small group of four, when I told her to wait.

"Roxas," I told him, "you need to be in it."

"Why?"

"Just… Get over here."

Hayner pushed him in our direction for us. With everyone in place, the light flashed, and a piece of paper was produced from the front.

Silver flashed before our eyes, and suddenly the new object was gone. The newly found thief paused, looking back to us, and resumed its course.

"Hurry!" I yelled. "To the mansion!" Hayner, Pence, and Olette fell behind, leaving only the five of us to pursue the Nobody.

We found it in front of the old iron gate, where we had first met Hayner and the others. Roxas charged forward, Paul and Cody about to follow, but I held the two of them back. "Wait. Roxas has to do this," I said, not letting the subject of the sentence overhear me.

The blonde pulled out his the only weapon he had: a Struggle bat. The Dusk lunged. Roxas swung the plastic toward the creature to no avail. He tried again, and again, but failed.

"It's no use…" he muttered. Any second now… And there it was. The moment that the pathetic excuse for a weapon or mean of protection transformed into a Kingdom Key. The blonde looked at it for a brief second, confused, but quickly remembered the creature in front of him.

As was expected, Roxas quickly defeated the Dusk, which dissipated and left all of the stolen photos behind. Hey! I said it!

"What was that thing?" he asked rhetorically. We shrugged, acting as if we didn't know. We helped him collect the pictures, and we found the other three waiting for us beyond the woods.

"Look!" Olette said. "They found the photos!" She gasped.

"Hey, you just said photos!" Pence pointed out the obvious. Thank you, Sherlock! Case closed.

"Well," I began. "I guess we should go return this one to Seifer. At least, I'm assuming this is the one they were talking about." I held out a picture that showed Roxas lying on the ground with Seifer standing over him in victory.

"Has anyone else noticed how these are all of Roxas?" Pence asked.

"Oh, yeah," replied Olette. "I noticed that, too."

"It's no wonder they thought we stole them."

Rachell and I exchanged glances.

"Yeeeaaahhh…" I said. "Weird."

* * *

Since the photo fiasco the day before, we wanted to take it easy. But how could we with the Struggle battle coming up in a matter of hours? I kept reminding myself to thank Roxas for letting me stay in his room, and I wanted to get it done before it was… Too late, but I hadn't gotten the chance to, yet.

"How about, after I win the competition," Hayner said smugly, and Cody scoffed, "we all go to the beach together?"

We all agreed in a heartbeat.

"But," Olette reminded him, "we have that project to do for school. We have to get it done before the end of summer, which is only in a few days."

"Oh… Yeah…"

The brunette turned to us.

"What do you all plan on doing for your project?" she asked.

"Oh, w-well, we…" Rachell said nervously. "We haven't given much thought to that." Whew. Safe!

"Well, you would mind helping us with ours?" Pence wondered. "Maybe something we do will give you guys some ideas."

Rachell and I nodded while the boys' shoulders seemed to sag at the thought of doing homework.

"Can't we talk about this after the competition?" Hayner complained. "C'mon! I don't want to be thinking about homework while I'm fighting!"

We all agreed.

The hours passed too quickly, and we stood at the sandlot, the crowd already cheering, and talking amongst themselves who they thought would be the new champion. Rumors about the newcomers had already been accumulating that they - meaning we - had a very fair chance.

Setzer was introduced, and all of the women (besides Rachell, Olette, and me) swooned over him. I ended up rolling my eyes, and the first combatants were announced: Cody versus Hayner.

"Wish me luck," Hayner told the rest of us.

"Yeah. You're going to need it," Cody muttered.

The blonde shot daggers at the brunette, who only raced up to the arena.

They took their usual positions. "Ready?"

I cheered for no one in particular.

"STRUGGLE!"


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry for the incredibly long delay! FFN wouldn't let Rachell or I upload KH fics (Who knows why) and since she was the one to write the fourth chapter, I couldn't get it up until now. She wouldn't send it to me in an e-mail, so I had to wait to write my version until she got hers up. =/ But it's all good now 'cause here it is!**

**-sad face- I just found out we have to take my dog to the vet today… I'm not gonna gross anyone out with the details of her current condition, but ONE of the few problems is she's been losing excessive amounts of hair… And, no, it's not shedding. More like molting that started in the middle of winter, which is why this is so weird. Like I said, there are some more issues, but I don't want anyone leaving this page before they've at least read the story... But anyways… -feigns happy face- Let's move on. 8D**

**Reviewsssss!**

**clover22: **FFN doesn't let me post links… Believe me, I've tried it before. But if you go to my profile, I have Rachie's version under my favorite stories or her in my favorite authors. ^w^

**T. J. Nightshade: **Yeah… Sorry. I don't get any more creative than taking things right from the game. XD That's Rachell's job. –looks over to her- Not really, but I do wanna make this as similar as the game as possible. Well… As similar as we _can _make it with my friends and me there. XD

**On other news: I LEARNED HOW TO MAKE SEA SALT ICE CREAM! =D –HAPPY DANCE- It took a few tries (I added too much salt the first time, and didn't even freeze that, too little salt the second time which turned out better and Rachell tried it, and too much salt again when I made it with another one of my friends… I guess I should probably measure how much I put in instead of guessing… O3o) But aside from my screw-ups IT TASTES AMAZIIIIING! Except it makes Roxas (Rachell) sick… Why Roxas? WHY YOU NO LIKE XION COOKING? DX**

**Disclaimer: This one is gonna be a reply to one of Rachell's disclaimers about her making it where Kairi didn't exist; if I owned Kingdom Hearts, she would exist. But I would have her killed off by… I don't even know. Someone who could make it clean… Or messy… I don't really care as long as she's gone, and Naminé and Xion were still alive. =3 Actually… I may throw her to a pack of Rabid Dogs… -smiles evilly-**

**-goes off to make sea salt ice cream- (in background: "Oh, right. The story!") –comes back to write it-**

* * *

Chapter Four:

"STRUGGLE!"

The male teenagers lunged for one another, their bats meeting with a hollow sound. The pressure was on as they pushed against each other, a burning flame behind their eyes.

"G-Give up…" Hayner forced out between clenched teeth. His stance was faltering ever so slightly, sweat already dampening his hair. "I'm gonna win…" While cocky, he didn't seem very confident.

"You only wish, Blondie!" Cody – not sounding at all tired, yet - gave one final shove with the makeshift weapon, earning himself a few red orbs.

Hayner lunged again, refusing to be beaten by the likes of my friend – much as I was a couple days before. Just trust me; no one wants to admit being defeated by Cody Hatton. Mostly because he won't ever stop bragging about it. Ever. The blonde hit the edge of his opponent's shoulder, sending his target reeling back, and gained four points. They continued with quick attacks, slow blocks, and quicker passes. They were too equally matched. This was going to be way too close for comfort. Orbs of red and blue fell in a flurry with each blow. And Cody was losing himself…

"C'mon, Riku!" Rachell called out. I shot a warning glance at her, but quickly erased it, realizing that no one here would recognize the name. "Stop being such a wimp, and fight him already!" Cody must not have heard Rachell's "encouragement", and within the next few seconds, he was on the ground.

"Dammit!"

He lay on his back, bat weakly raised, breathing heavily. Hayner kept his distance – with good reason – from the seemingly defeated brunette, but snickered in triumph. "So, couldn't stay true to your talk." He was going to win if Cody didn't get up soon! The blonde turned his back to his opponent to leave the raised platform; never a smart thing to do. "There's not enough time on the clock for you to-"

Cody, who had made a miraculous recovery, managed to make a large swipe at Hayner's back. Ten orbs changed owners successfully, declaring my friend the winner of the first match by one point. The crowd roared, chanting the newcomer's name as he stepped down from the ring wearily.

Rachell threw her arms around his neck in celebration. "You did it! You won!"

Although worn out, Cody wasn't phased by her hug. "Of course, I did! I wasn't going to lose to a blonde!" Says the sixteen-year-old boy who acts like a fifth-grade blonde. One of his eyebrows rose. "You thought I was gonna lose!"

Yep!

"Only at the end! Promise!" she assured him.

C'mon, Rachell; tell the truth.

"The next match: Rachell versus Roxas!"

"Good luck, Rachell!" I called to her, giving her a high five as she passed, and Paul giving her a knuckle touch.

"Yeah! Kick some ass!"

"Show Roxas who's boss!"

The two competitors each made their way up, and began speaking. I couldn't hear their words over the cheering crowd, but they shook each other's hands.

"Ready?" The fighters took their positions. "STRUGGLE!"

* * *

"The winner… Rachell!"

I cheered, and ran up to the stage, tackling her, Cody quick to follow. Paul congratulated her on a job well done, and so did Olette and the others when she had made her way down. Roxas shook her hand again, and the next match was announced.

"I'm not sure how it happened," admitted the blonde announcer, "but Vivi versus Alison!"

Me. Great. Paul gave me a kiss for good luck, and Rachell and Cody each gave me two thumbs up as I strode up the steps, bat in hand. I looked to my short opponent – I wanted his hat – who giggled somewhat sinisterly. The laughter had a faint echo behind it, but I had to focus. The countdown had already begun.

The command to begin rang through the square, Vivi already on the move. He – Vivi is a "he", right? – was considered the weakest of Seifer's lackeys, and I was _not _going to lose to that! I kept my eyes and ears open, studying his motions, and blocking every attack. If I was going to win this thing, I had to get on the offensive. I spent the first half of the fight blocking and dodging, running and swinging, but nothing but bats collided. Not one orb had fallen. Why couldn't I hit him? My form was flawless. How? I haven't the faintest idea. It was like I wasn't in complete control of my body; like I was sharing it. Like the person I was hosting was helping me.

My thoughts had begun to betray me. Wow. First Kingdom Hearts, now Star Wars? Really? I began losing my concentration on the fight. My eyes kept wanting to scan the crowd for Roxas. But why him? When the bats connected my sight would jerk to the side, looking for a long enough pause to find him, but then Vivi would move again, and I would have to force myself to look back at my opponent. C'mon, Self! Stop fighting me, and fight the weird guy in front of you… Me… Whatever! Just stop it! My defense was wavering. "C'mon, Baby! Kick his ass!" Paul encouraged. But I didn't have the strength anymore…

"C'mon, Viv! Kick that emo's ass into the dust!" It was the first time I had heard Seifer's voice since the competition started. "She doesn't even deserve to be here!" That was it.

I pressed forward, forcing Vivi to the edge of the ring. Striving to stay within bounds, all he could do was turn to the defensive. At last, with one final swing of my bat, my opponent fell though he managed to stay on the platform, five orbs – being the first to fall – becoming mine. He rose swiftly, charging with his bat overhead. I was ready to block, but the buzzer rang, and his weapon was lowered as he came to a sudden halt. Strange. I was sure he was going to take that chance for an attack. He waddled away, and I lowered my own bat.

As I watched him turn the corner to exit the sandlot, I thought I say his shape ripple ever so slightly.

"TAKE THAT, SEIFER! WE'RE WAY BETTER THAN YOU AND YOUR LOSER FRIENDS!" Hayner taunted.

"Watch it, chicken shit. I'm next, and I'm facing the hick." He pointed his bat at my boyfriend, who gave the most dangerous look I had ever seen him give _anyone, _and that's saying a lot. "Let's see how good you are," Seifer challenged. "It was merely chance that the two stupid brunettes and your ugly bitch of an emo girlfriend made it this far."

"WHAT THE FUCK? WHAT DID HE JUST CALL YOU?" Paul growled to me. Rachell and Cody were too busy yelling something else to the instigator.

I was pinching the bridge of my nose. This was _not _going to end well. For Seifer mostly, but Paul, too. "Paul." I made sure I got him to look at me. "Just try not to kill him, okay, Love?"

"No promises, Baby."

"Hey!" Seifer called, ignoring my friends' comments. "The break will be over soon, and then we'll have to fight. Hope I don't hurt you too bad…" A corner of his mouth turned up slightly.

"Like wise, jackass!" Paul snapped. He picked up the weapon – the one that, in his hands, could do some _serious _damage – and raced up to the arena, skipping most of the steps, ready to start even before the announcer – who scrambled to the top of the box where he stood.

"Ready? STRUG-" The two boys were charging toward the other before the word was out. My hands were folded together as orbs went flying in different directions. Neither of them noticed, or had a strategy even, both too intent on practically murdering each other. It wasn't long before – as I expected – Paul yelled "Dammit, you bastard!" and had thrown the blue plastic to the ground, Seifer following his example.

I covered my eyes. Maybe I should've warned Seifer? I looked to my brunette friend, who was watching the scene with shock. "Cody!" I called. He snapped out of his trance-like state, and looked to me. "Do something?" He nodded and raced up to the stage, working with Rai to pull them apart.

"I… Uh…" The announcer was at a loss for words until the promoter whispered something to him. "They're both disqualified!"

* * *

"DAMMIT! I'M TELLING YOU, I'M FINE!"

As Paul slapped the nurse's hand away, I slapped the back of his head. He growled, but I sent him a glare that told him to hold still. He obeyed. "Oh, shit!" he shouted as the medicine was put on his knuckles. Some nasty gashes had formed from the force of his punches to the other teen. Rachel left the room, Cody following, shaking her head.

"You city folk and your hospitals," Paul was mumbling, shaking his head. "'Oh, my mom hit me in the back of the head with a book! I need to go to the hospital to get some hydrocodone!' 'I cut my thumb with a _spoon; _lemme go get stitches!'" He had to bring up the spoon thing. Yes, a few years ago I accidently cut my thumb with a spoon… It wasn't a big cut… And the spoon was made of metal, so I can't be blamed! I realize it's still pretty pathetic though. Just goes to show how clumsy I really am.

"All I got are a few bruises…" he complained.

"Yeah," I began sarcastically. "And broken skin on your knuckles, and a dislocated shoulder…" He tried to stand, but yelled in pain.

"And a sprained ankle," the nurse informed us, quickly observing it. I placed my hands on his shoulders, gently pressing him back onto the examination table.

"I woulda been fine without comin'…" he grumbled.

"I only wanted to make sure." The nurse left and I gave him a quick peck on the cheek, an attempt to comfort him.

The other two returned, and I wondered where they had gone… "So what's going on?" Rachell asked.

"He's been disqualified, and I'm staying here with him," I told her, readjusting the bandage around my boyfriend's curly, brown hair. He glanced at me with surprise at my statement, but I ignored it. He knew that the competition was important to me, but he was even more so.

"So much for our hard work getting you in…"

"Yeah, _your _hard work," I smiled sarcastically. Then sighing and shaking my head, I told her, "You and Cody need to go out there and show Setzer who's the real Struggle champ, 'kay?"

Cody nodded enthusiastically and dragged Rachell out of the room.

"You sure about droppin' out?" Paul questioned. I nodded, solemnly. "Well, shouldn't we go cheer for 'em?" It was obvious he wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. I didn't blame him. I knew how much he hated hospitals and the like.

"Are you feeling up to it?" He gave me an incredulous look. I mirrored it, knowing that he would fake being okay to get out of there. "Just thought I'd ask. We will-" he tried to stand again, but I stopped him, "-_after _you get that splint on your ankle."

* * *

With Paul's arm around my shoulders for support – the nurse didn't want to give him crutches, but it still hurt him to walk on it – we were finally able to leave the clinic. Unfortunately, we were leaving just as Seifer was.

"Hey, Emo!" Paul turned abruptly, shooting me forward, but I regained my balance before I hit the ground, and raced to hold Paul back. The brunette tried to lunge at the blonde – who flinched with each of Paul's movements – but I stepped in his path, my eyes boring into his.

"What do you want, Seifer?" I asked sternly, turning my head slightly.

"I-" he started confidently, but his voice weakened. "I wanted to congratulate you. On your win."

"It was nothing." Paul had stopped trying to charge at the boy, but remained on edge. I turned to face Seifer.

"But that wasn't Vivi. He had been acting weird, but now I know. It's not him."

"Thanks for the warning," I said halfheartedly, "but we've gotta get back." I turned, taking Paul's arm again.

"Hey!" Seifer yelled, losing his temper. I looked back to him, losing some of my own patience. "I don't know where you lamers came from, but… But when you get back there, make sure the idiot takes care of the pipsqueak." Before Paul or I could say a word, Seifer raced past us toward the sandlot.

My eyebrows knit together. What was he talking about? "Make sure the idiot takes care of the…" Did he see something we didn't? And… And… What? This wasn't making sense. And, when he left, was he… Blushing?

"Is definitely confused," I stated simply, returning Paul's arm around the back of my neck.

"Baby, I've been confused since we got to this place. I've given up tryin' to _get _it."

"Oh, whatever. We're gonna miss Cody's next match. C'mon."

Cody and Vivi were already on the stage, preparing for their battle. I saw Rachell at the sidelines talking with a disappointed looking Hayner. As we approached, Paul immediately began complaining. "That damn asshole made me sprain my ankle…" Rachell gave him a sympathetic look as I lead him away to one of the benches, and the announcer began the count.

The match began the same way, Vivi taking the offensive. It was as close as my match had been, but Cody didn't let that last long. With a few full swings he earned ten orbs. He jumped back as Vivi growled, and began to shake. No, not shake. Transform! The crowd seemed to freeze, and only Rachell, Cody, Paul, and I seemed mobile. "What…?" Cody began.

"A Dusk!" Rachell yelled.

The silver creature began its eerie dance, eyeing us. Cody leapt back three more feet, and his bat soon became Way to the Dawn.

I summoned my Kingdom Key as Rachell's Oblivion and Oathkeeper appeared. "Paul. Stay," I ordered. I stayed by him where he sat, while Cody and Rachell took care of the thing easily. Soon, only the sound of their breathing resonated in the square. Until I heard the footsteps reverberating on the brick ground.

"Alright, guys. Fight, fight, fight."

I raced up to the stage to get a better look at the hooded figure. Paul limped behind me, shrinking away from the man when he saw him. Cody glared at us as we stared in shock at the black coat. Could it be…?

"Who are you?" Paul interrupted my daydreaming about the possibility of it being who I thought it was. I could only hope.

The man raised his hands to his hood, lowering it to reveal fiery red hair and blazing emerald eyes. To confirm what I saw, I looked to his cheeks; up-side-down triangle tattoos sat below those eyes. My heart skipped a beat. "How rude of me. Name's Axel. Got it memorized?"

I mouthed the final words as he spoke them. Rachell and I fan girl spazed, and blacked out.


	5. Chapter 5

**Ugh! Rachie… YOU'D BETTER LOVE ME! Makin' me neglect my other stories for this one… But, no, you wouldn't send me the fourth chapter over an e-mail so that all of this could be done FASTER, and could probably be done by now… Instead, you get distracted by Left4Dead, won't get on the computer, and when you do, you write Nick/Ellis fan fics… =_= Not eeeeeven gonna MENTION the 358/2 Days that distracted you from writing the fifth chapter… O3o So, Fans, yell at her, not me please. X3 Thanks. After this, I promise I will get the sixth chapter up as soon as possible, ****and not procrastinate like SOMEBODY DID!****** And, no, RACHELL; I will not name anyone in particular. =3**

**OK! Rant over; MOVIN' ON! For those of you who cared about the issue with my dog, she's all good now! =w= Well, okay, maybe not all good, but she is better. We gotz some meds for her, and she seems perkier than a few days ago when she was moping and whatnot. b(Owo)d**

**Revieeeeews: **

**Fatima Kenobi Skywalker****: **I know, right? He's so amazicals! :heart: :heart: :heart: And I'm glad you enjoyed it! Hopefully more hilarious stuff to come soon, so KEEP READING! =D

**T.: **No! AXEL IS NOT DEAD!He's just…gone fishin'? Um… ANYWAYS! Why you no like Xion? D= (Have I mentioned that's my namesake? I don't remember if I did or not. O3o) But she righted herself from killing Roxas by giving herself up to join him, and later, Sora! =D And, I totally understand the whole "they act like their namesakes" thing. It's scary how much alike my friend Jenni and Demyx are. O3o**  
****O3o There were no more. –goes into deep depression- Seriously, guys. Reviews truly help me not to have so much writer's block, meaning I can get these chapters up faster, so you won't have to wait as long. Do I need to start begging? –puppy dog face- Okay, I'll be one of those author's that sets an amount of reviews I would LIKE to have and won't write anymore of this story until I get them. =3 Wait… Then Rachie would kill me…. NEW PLAN: I will sit here eating jars of peanut butter until I get 2 more reviews than I have now (which is 8). And I'm allergic to peanut butter, so I suggest people start reviewing, or I could die, which means no more story! Whahaha! =3 And, Rachell, if you review, it won't count. Sorry! =w=**

**-steals Rachell's rum- WHAT NOW? **

**WARNING: My mind does crazy things when I'm sick – like I am right now – so sorry if the private thoughts of mine in this chapter are kinda… Out there. O3o**

**Disclaimer: Note that if I owned Kingdom Hearts, I would've made this story into a game a looooong time ago.**

****Okay… So I did end up getting distracted. But at least it was by other stories, so it's not like I wasn't writing other mediocre things for y'all to read. =D**

* * *

**Chapter Five:**

I don't recall waking up, but I know that when I did, I almost passed out as soon as I saw Axel's face again. "Oh, no, you don't," Paul whispered into my ear, as he caught me the second time. My eyes had fluttered closed, briefly, but as I fought to keep them open, I spun my head quickly to look for the pyro. As I found the red hair, I saw my hair twirl with my motion out of the corner of my eye, and, for a moment, I could have sworn that it was black, and shorter than I had ever had it cut. I thought I even felt the ends of it on the back of my neck, something that only happened when it was in a ponytail. But when I checked it again, it was its usual, dull, blondish cinnamon brown color at its normal length just past my shoulders and with its many layers that I desired so much.

The man of every Kingdom Hearts fan girl's dreams eyed each of us warily, his marvelous emerald jewels coming to rest on Rachell. Aw, why her? They both seemed to kind of space out for a moment but he blinked, and smirked the cutest smirk I had ever seen! Uh, besides Paul's that is. I smiled innocently to myself at this thought, imagining him hearing me say that. "So," Axel began, "you're the four Xemnas has been going absolutely crazy about… The four teens who connected an otherwise unknown world." The smirk changed to a smile. I had to remind myself to keep breathing. Was it bad to be fan girl spazing with my boyfriend standing right there? Probably, but this may have been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. "Pretty normal looking bunch, if you ask me."

Rachell, Cody, and I summoned the Keyblades we had put away after the fight with the dusk. It startled the red head, making him take a step back. "We're not _normal,_" I stated simply. I made sure Paul was behind me the entire time, hoping the other two would understand what their job was going to be.

Axel eyed us again, then sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "You guys have to go with a fight? I'm not really up to it…"

"We ain't goin' anywhere," Paul told him.

"Oh, I think I can arrange that…" With one final smile – that turned dangerously evil – and in a show of flames, Axel held his chakrams, twirling them in his hands, much like in the game. "Well? Still up for fighting?" Is it sad when you start imagining the music that would be playing if this were the video game? The tune was just so epic for this epic moment of awesomeness that I couldn't resist.

Cody chuckled, "A little fire never scared me!" He charged at the older man, never taking his eyes off him, but when he was finally in reach, a wall of flames shot up in front of him, only inches from his face. "Hey!"

"'Not scared', huh?" Axel remarked, as they wall retreated, as did Cody. Way to be the hero, Cody. You are a beacon of light to us in this dark age. "If you were **really** him, you'd charge through without hesitation."

"_Him?" _Rachell pondered. "Who in the hell-?"

"Well," Cody interrupted her – typical. "I'm not _him, _so I'm not going to charge through the damn flame wall and get killed, thanks." He paused, growing more annoyed. "Whoever _he _is, of course."

"Don't like the comparison, huh? _He _never did either… But whether you're like him or not, you're not standing between me and her anymore." His green eyes found Rachell again as he pointed to her. Wha'?

"Huh?" she managed.

"Yeah, right," Cody snorted. "I'd like to see you try-" Before he had finished the sentence, Axel had punched him in the stomach – I think I winced at the sound, imagining the pain – and used his elbow to strike the back of his neck, knocking him out completely. "Cody!" I shouted.

"What-?" Rachell could only look from Cody's motionless body and up to Axel.

"Dammit!" Paul yelled. "Wait 'till I get my hand on ya-"

"You're in no condition to fight, Paul!" I told him. He had already moved from the place at the bench where I had told him to stay.

"I'd listen to her, Paul," Axel said, stretching out Paul's name in a way that made me want to punch his face in. That is, until I _looked _at that face again. "I can't be sure I could hold back enough not to kill you." He turned back to address Rachell. "Now, you. I have a question…" His weapons disappeared. "Does the number thirteen mean anything to you? Or what about the organization?" Well, those were stupid questions. Of course, they meant something to her. They meant almost everything to her.

"I don't know what you're talking about. It's just a number and a name."

Axel shook his head, not buying the obvious lie. "You do, Rachell…" How the heck did he know her name?... "You know the importance of both of those things." And what am I; a bowl of soggy Frosted Flakes? HELLO? "You _know_ what they mean," he coaxed, edging closer to her.

"No, I don't!"

Without warning, a chakram was once again in his hand, and he held the point up to Rachell's throat. I started forward, but something stopped me. Was it the same force (going with Stars Wars again apparently; seriously, next it was going to go to Sesame Street!) that helped me in my fight with Vivi?

"You do!" Axel was yelling. His words triggered a… Was it a memory? Or a dream? Either way, reality clashed with the vision. _"You have to!"_

"_I'm sorry, but… I can't go. It's my friends – they need me. And I need them, too." Tears had begun welling up in my eyes as I stared at my feet._

"_It'd be better for all of us if you just left! GO!" I knew he was right…_

"_You were both my best friends. Never forget. That's the truth…"_

Paul was shaking me, trying to get my mind back to the situation at hand. I looked to Rachell and Axel, both of which were breathing heavily, but the male seemed defeated. Had I really just spaced during their whole fight? Aw, man!

"How…" he wheezed. "How do you…"

"I'm fast," Rachell boasted. "Can't keep up?"

He shook his head. "How do you have the Keyblade?"

I looked to him confused, but – just as he had been the entire time he was there… - he ignored me. But it was a troubling question to say the least. How _did _any of us have Keyblades? I mean, yeah, we were named after the people who had them in our Kingdom Hearts… Could it have something to do with…? This was definitely something I would have to mull over later.

"I… I don't know…" Rachell admitted.

"_He _had that Keyblade…" he said, eyeing Oathkeeper.

"_He…"_ Rachell was trying to contemplate who _he _might be. "Who are you…?"

"Well, congratulations, kid," Axel said simply, rising to his full height. "Maybe you _will _be able to stop them…"

"Stop who?" Rachell asked, trying to press on the subject.

"I know, you're confused-" Hey! I'm still over here, just as confused as she is! "-but you've got brains, like him…" Am I _really_ that invisible? "But, even though this is the first time we've met," a dark portal opened up behind him as he spoke, "I feel like I've seen you before…" He turned to the swirling black doorway. "Oh, and… You're welcome." He gave a half smile as he disappeared into the darkness.

"Wait- What?" I called after him, but he was gone. Rachell and I glanced to each other, then our Keyblades, an eerie feeling seeping its way to our hearts. I'm not so comfortable wielding a Kingdom Key anymore. I almost screamed when the crowd had started cheering once again. Cody was up now, rubbing his head and groaning. "What happened…?"

Rachell was the first to inform him. "Axel knocked you out. But I think we're…"

"After our short break, the next fight is Rachell versus Cody!"

I looked to the both of them.

* * *

During the break, Cody and I treated Rachell's burns and minor cuts with potion as we filled him in on what happened while he was out.

"He knocked you out," Rachell was telling him, "then talked to me about the _thirteenth member of the Organization _and about the Keyblades…"

"What did you tell him?" Cody asked.

"I told him I didn't know… But, how **do **we have the Keyblades? I mean, we're not wielders, are we?" It was definitely a perplexing concept. But I really hoped we didn't have the Keyblades that belonged to someone else when they needed them… Or maybe that's where they went when we weren't using them? Now _there's _a thought.

"From what I've seen…" Paul began, "You ain't like that Sora kid. Maybe y'all have 'em by an off chance?"

Wow. He had remembered Sora's name. I was astounded as well as proud. "Maybe…" I mumbled, losing myself again to thought before returning to real life. "Well, your fight's coming up. Are you sure you'll be okay?"

"Yeah. Hopefully Cody will go easy on me." She laughed uneasily, and nudged him, but I could see the smirk on his face before he stepped up to the arena.

Before they began, Cody's bat was raised, the smirk on his face plain. Rachell stared back, gripping the handle of her own bat with such force the colors in her knuckles were reduced to white. The look on her face worried me; it looked as if she were beginning to doubt herself. She had no reason to, of course; if she could defeat Roxas she could definitely beat Cody into a pulp (especially since he was almost beaten by Hayner, who, let's face it, is no match for the blonde with the spikier hair.) I knew she could pull it off. Cody had the physical abilities on his side, but she had strategy, something I knew would always win out. Wishful thinking? Most likely, but Cody didn't need the bragging rights that came with becoming champion… Oh, goodness.

"STRUGGLE!"

Both of them raced toward the other on command, their bats meeting hollowly as soon as they were in reach. They strained – yes, I used that to avoid and unintentional play-on-words – to gain control, each seeming to falter in turn. Just as I was beginning to think that this fight would go nowhere, Cody thrust his bat toward Rachell, sending her reeling back. He swung the bat around, aiming too high as Rachell ducked. I cheered for no one in particular as Hayner and the others did.

From the other side of the sandlot, I thought I heard someone yelling something about a lamer, but they were too far away for me to tell who it was – even though, I had a pretty good idea, if that's what he had said. The possible "lamer" comment must've been aimed at Cody because he suddenly decided "Oh, I'm going to take the offensive, herp derp!"

Just as he did so, the announcer yelled "End!" but the two managed to not hear it. They were probably too bent on murdering each other with blue plastic, or at least beat each other up when and where it's legal. Thankfully, their hidden "rage", we'll call it, toward the other was interrupted.

"Stop, stop, stop…"

Mid-attack the two turned to face the newcomer, lowering the bats. The man wore a lilac shirt (if Paul ever wore that color, I'd probably murder him), and black pants that rippled as he walked onto the newfound battle field. "You two are obviously equally matched," said the man with violet eyes. "This is pointless."

"Oh, so how are we going to share the belt and trophy? Huh?" Cody snapped. Yes, because having to share with Rachell? How horrible would that be? GOSH, Cody! "Let us battle. Someone will win eventually."

"Eventually isn't in the future, young man," stated Setzer coolly. I had to think about his statement; it made sense...in a way. He was handed a bat, and I could see the look of shock cross everyone's faces. "Which is why I have decided that I will fight the both of you at the same time."

Cody burst into a laughing fit. "Are you serious? Did you just see that fight? We'll take you down too quickly!"

Setzer chuckled in return, flipping his silver hair from his face. "I did, and I saw your weaknesses. Out of all the hits she had sent you, you went out of your way to block the ones sent too close to your face. And her knees are hurt, every leap she made was strained and I saw the pain in her eyes." He was very perceptive, indeed. One of the very few things I admired and respected him for (seriously, lilac?)

I saw Rachell's lips moving, but couldn't make out what she had mumbled. It must have been amusing because next to her, Cody chuckled. The sour look on Setzer's face told me that he had also heard, and that it must've been extremely rude, at least by his standards, but if you ask me... Then again, it's Rachell we're talking about…so of course it was.

"So," Setzer said with a sneer, "if you do not mind, let us start."

* * *

I listened carefully as the gears behind the face of the clock tower slowly shifted. The sound calmed me from the excitement of Cody and Rachell's win against Setzer. I closed my eyes as I lifted the sea salt ice cream to my lips. _When I reopened them, I was still sitting on the platform, but I was surrounded by different people. I laughed along with one of them as the red-head rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh, Axel! Your face is red!" I howled, taking another bite out of the salty-sweet treat._

As the two around me faded, and the seven I was originally with replaced them, I shook the image out of my mind. Literally, by shaking my head furiously. I noticed Rachell glancing over, and gave her a quick smile, until I realized that Paul was eyeing the ice cream in his hand with a disgusted expression. "C'mon Paul, try it."

"No way. It's gotta weird name. I ain't tryin' ice cream with 'sea salt' in the title.'

I pursed my lips. "It's not even that salty!" He was _going _to try that ice cream whether he wanted to or not, even if I had to shove the whole thing – stick included – down is throat. "Although I have to remember how it tastes for the next time I make it…" What better way to find the perfect blend of salty-sweetness than to try the original, right?

With out much more pressure, Paul took a small lick. "Okay, so it ain't that bad…" My thoughts: 'your tongue barely touched that; how could you know that it doesn't taste bad?' Rather than voicing my question, I stuck my tongue out in an 'I told you so' manor.

"Ugh. How can you like this stuff?" came the repulsed comment from further down the row. I decided to let Rachell handle that stubborn, difficult, hard-headed- Sorry…

"Because it's just the right kind of salty and sweet." She smiled at Cody. "It's perfectly balanced!" Amen to that!

"Yeah, whatever." And… "Okay, so maybe it's not that bad…" Of course, not. Stubborn _and_ indecisive!

"See? All you had to do was get a taste for it!"

"Yeah!" Hayner said, trying to include himself in the conversation. "First time I got Roxas to try it, he nearly coughed it out on me… But they made that batch too salty, so I guess that's why…"

"It took two more bars of the good stuff to make him eat it everyday," Olette reminisced, smiling. "He's loved it ever since."

The subject of the conversation chuckled.

"Oh! Hang on!" Rachell exclaimed, reaching behind her. She pulled out the trophy (where was she keeping it?) and pulled the jewels from their set places, tossing the red one to me, the green to Paul, and the yellow to Cody, keeping the blue one for herself.

"Did I really just get the girly color…?" Cody complained. I shot a glare in his direction, and Rachell elbowed him in his side before the others could notice. After he had been silenced, she raised her transparent orb to allow the sunlight to shine through the glass. I was second to do so, then the boys mirrored us. We each put our treasures in our pockets.

"Does anyone want more?" Roxas asked, looking to each of us in turn. "I'm gonna go get more."

"I'll take another one!" Paul yelled. First, denial of its amazing taste, now the first to accept Roxas's offer for more; just like him. Cody and I nodded.

"I'll be right back then-" As our spiky-haired friend stood, his foot slipped on the corner of the platform, sending him reeling back, and falling to the brick below.

"Roxas!"

No one had enough time to react, and as he fell, Rachell began to fall the opposite direction. I was powerless to help Roxas, but I caught my friend before her head could hit the pavement as she blacked out. When my hand touched her shoulder, my vision also faded, though my remaining senses continued to function.

* * *

"_Nam-?"_

_There was a slight pause._

"_-happening to me?"_

_Was that… Roxas's voice?_

"_Who are-? –I'm Kai-"_

_Why couldn't I hear everything?_

"_I know y- -that girl he-"_

"_-a name!"_

"_Rox-"_

"_-HIS name?"_

"_You don't remember my name? Thanks a lot, Kairi! Okay, I guess I can give you a hint. Starts with an 'S'!"_

"_What?"_

* * *

My ability to see returned, and I set a still unconscious Rachell down gently, practically throwing myself over the edge yelling, "Roxas!" Out of all the strange things that had happened in the previous days, this experience was certainly the strangest. I watched in shock as Roxas's fall began to slow, soon becoming a hover just above the ground. At a creepily, drawn out rate Roxas began to move upward. Time seemed to be reversing. Within the next few seconds, Roxas was back on the balcony with us, as if nothing had happened. _Whaaaaaaat? _Yeah; definitely the strangest. Hayner, Pence, and Olette looked down on Rachell.

"What happened?" Pence asked.

"I… I can honestly say, I have no clue," I told him. As Cody kneeled next to Rachell, my thoughts strayed to the "conversation" I had overheard. Why had I only been able to hear bits and pieces of that conversation? And why did I feel some sort of connection to it when I held Rachell's shoulder? This was all too confusing! In the past two days I had managed to form so many questions. And, for some reason that I cannot possibly imagine (boy, I love sarcasm) I had this feeling that my friends would turn mostly to me for the answers to them all. Face it; they believed that they would be too busy kicking Heartless ass. That's what they thought, anyway. Knowing them, they would manage to get themselves killed before we even left Twilight Town, if we did.

"Rachell! Hey!" Cody shook her shoulder. Slowly she rose, rubbing her head, and squinting at the faces around her.

"Are you okay?" Olette asked her. Sure… No one noticed me totally spacing. Then again, maybe I would've preferred it that way. Well, if it meant passing out and/or falling off the clock tower (and actually falling to my death) then no thank you!

"Yeah, I think so… Ouch. That hurt."

"You fell backward." Confused, Rachell looked to the one who had spoken. I had to admit, it was definitely unnerving to see him standing there considering he _did _just fall, even though I had seen him… (float?) back up to safety. I looked at him, pretending that nothing had happened, since that was _obviously_ what he was doing… I hope.

"Y-You!" She pointed an accusing finger at Roxas, who only tilted his head in confusion. Was he really that good of an actor, or did he seriously not know that he plummeted to his near death? "You fell off the tower!" Rachell yelled, getting to her feet. "I saw you! You fell off right before I fell backward! And you should be dead!"

They all gave her confused looks in response, Cody included. Don't tell he didn't even see that! Hayner burst out laughing. "Nice joke! Did you hit your head that hard against the concrete? If Roxas fell off the tower, what's he doing up here?"

"Maybe I was just imagining things… Haha." She shifted uncomfortably, becoming disheartened.

Behind us, the clock tolled, hurting my head from the loud sound since we were right next to it. "Ah, we need to get home," Olette said softly. "We'll see you guys tomorrow." Oh, right; hadn't we promised to help them with their project?

Once they were out of earshot, Rachell turned to us. "He did, didn't he?"

And so the questions begin. "Yeah, but as soon as you fell backward, the entire place stood still and kind of backed up. Roxas was suddenly back on the tower and you were still out." I paused, contemplating a million things at once. "I don't think this is following the storyline, guys. In a way, yes, but no at the same time…"

"Oh great. More effort."

"We should do what they did and find somewhere to stay tonight," Cody suggested. "I'm tired as hell."

"After all that fighting today, who wouldn't be?" I asked rhetorically, taking Paul's hand in my own as we started descending the stairs. Upon reaching the bottom step, I turned to consult them about a place to stay – I had planned on joking about staying at the mansion to see what their reaction would be – but I saw Rachell lagging behind. She was looking back up at the tower. "Rachell?" She faced me, shoving something into her pocket. "You coming?" Without an answer she ran to catch up to us.

So many mysteries to uncover. What were we dragging ourselves into?


End file.
